Device for cooking or grilling small pieces of food and method of use

ABSTRACT

A device for grilling small pieces of food is described which is a basket including a mesh. The device fits inside of conventional grills even when the lid of the grill is closed and can be easily removed for shaking and turning over of the small pieces of food without their falling out. The basket optionally has a removable lid that can be used independently of the device as a cooking surface. When the lid is in place, the entire device may be turned over. When the lid is either off or in the up position, the food inside the basket may be stirred or moved.

The present application is a continuation-in-part of application Ser.No. 08/442,931, filed on May 17, 1995.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Various attempts have been made to develop devices for cooking orgrilling specialty food items, particularly for use with outdoorbarbecue grills. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,510,855 to Avner describesa secondary grilling apparatus which comprises a flat sheet of metalwith rectangular openings which clips onto the bars of conventionalbarbecue grills. The sheet provides a secondary surface for grillingwith smaller openings. However, the device cannot be easily taken out ofthe barbecue grill when hot and does not permit easy turning over offood items.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,069,196 to Schlosser et al. describes a pivotingauxiliary rack which attaches to the perimeter of a barbecue grill andcan be pivoted from the side attachment over the surface of the grill oroff to the side for easy retrieval of cooked food items. The pivotingrack comprises a circular flat grill with a rail around the edge toprevent food from falling off. The circular flat grill is similar to themain grill of the barbecue, but is held above the main grill by means ofa pivot. The device suffers the same problems that a regular grill withlongitudinal bars in that small food items easily slip through. Also,the device cannot be easily lifted out of the grill and shaken to turnover food items.

U.S. Pat. No. 2,846,941 to Goodwin discloses a barbecue basket whichfully encases food items and is mounted on a spit, permitting one toeasily turn cooking food items over for cooking on both sides. Thedevice cannot be easily removed from the grill because it is mounted ona spit. Also, the device would not be suitable for small food itemsbecause the longitudinal bars create lengthwise openings through whichsmall food items would fall out.

Other devices include the PLATINUM GRILLING WOK™ (sold by CharcoalChampion) which comprises a square bottom with trapezoidal sides thatflare outward from their attachment to the square bottom. The wokcontains some small circular openings to allow circulation of heated airand smoke. However, the wok contains no lid that permits shaking of fooditems to easily turn them over. In addition, the limited number ofopenings does not allow full circulation of heated air and smoke whichare important for achieving optimum grilling flavor.

Still another device is the BARBECUE GRILLING GRID™ (sold by CharcoalChampion) which comprises a flat sheet with diamond-shaped openings andan upturned edge on one side. The grid cannot be easily lifted off ofthe grill, nor can it permit shaking of food items to turn them overwithout their falling out. It is essentially one-sided.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to provide a device for cookingor grilling small food items which permits optimum circulation of heatedair and smoke to achieve full grilling/cooking flavor. The device isentirely independent from the grill requiring no attachment whatsoever.It is an object of the present invention to provide a device that can beeasily removed from the barbecue grill, lifted out, and shaken to turnfood items over without their falling out. These same functions may beachieved while cooking with the device on the grill grate by eitherremoving the lid or lifting the lid and stirring, shifting or moving thefood items inside the device with a cooking implement (such as tongs,spatula, fork, etc.).

The use of a lid with the device is optional. With the lid on or off,spices, sauces, and flavorings may be added while cooking. Also, thegrilling device of the present invention is designed to fit completelywithin standard barbecue grills so that the top of the grill can beclosed while offering the maximum amount of cooking surface area. Stillanother object of the present invention is to provide a light-weightgrilling device that can be easily and cheaply manufactured from asingle piece of starting material.

With these objects in mind, the present inventors discovered that agrilling device could be fashioned out of light-weight stainless steelmesh having square openings, which could easily be fabricated from asingle flat piece of mesh by folding and which would satisfy the aboveobjects. Due to the flexibility of the stainless steel mesh, the devicecan be shaped to fit the interiors of standard barbecue grills,permitting the lid of the grill to be completely shut while providingthe maximum surface area for cooking small pieces of food and maximizingthe aromatic effect of barbecue cooking or grilling. Since the device isindependent from the grill on which it is used, food items may beprepared and placed inside the device at one location, carried and thencooked at the grill. Once cooking is completed, the food items may becarried from the grill inside the device to another desired location.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows one embodiment of the present invention without a top.

FIG. 2 shows another embodiment similar to that of FIG. 1 with a top inthe open position and side handles.

FIG. 3 shows the embodiment of FIG. 2 with the top in the closedposition.

FIG. 4 shows a side view of the embodiment of FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a top view of another embodiment with two inwardly facing topedges and two outwardly facing top edges and square grasping handles ateach corner and hand spaces between the two corner handles.

FIG. 6 is a top view of the lid for the embodiment of FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 is a frontal cut-away view of the embodiment of FIG. 5.

FIG. 8 is a side cut-away view of the embodiment of FIG. 5.

FIG. 9 shows the device of FIGS. 5-8 prior to folding.

FIG. 10 shows a side view of another embodiment of the device accordingto the present invention comprising two halves.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

In one embodiment, the present invention is directed to a device forgrilling small pieces of food, wherein the device comprises a basketcomposed of mesh having square openings throughout the mesh and thebasket has a base that matches the shape of the grill and four sidewalls which are high enough to retain small pieces of food when thedevice is shaken to turn the small pieces of food over, wherein the meshis made of a material suitable for cooking or grilling food that iswelded, soldered, or woven. Preferably, the basket is shaped to fitwithin the interior of a grill when the lid of the grill is closed.Optionally, the basket of the device is covered with a lid that may befastened to the device or placed on top of the device.

Another embodiment of the present invention is a device for grillingsmall pieces of food as described in the above paragraph, wherein thedevice comprises a fully enclosed basket having a top, a bottom, andfour side walls. One of the four side walls is preferably raised higherthan the other three walls, so that the top of the device slopesdownward from a point where the top is joined with the raised side wallto a point where the top is joined with at least one of the other threeside walls. In this embodiment, a single cut is made through the sidewalls of the device, separating it into two halves, which may be usedseparately as two grilling devices or together in one grilling device asa top and bottom. This embodiment is further advantageous because of theease of production.

Another embodiment of the present invention is a method of using thedevice to grill small pieces of food on a grill comprising placing thepieces of food in the basket, placing the basket on the grill, closingthe lid of the grill, removing the basket after the small pieces of foodare cooked on one side, shaking the basket to turn the pieces of foodover onto their uncooked sides, and placing the basket onto the grilluntil the small pieces of food are cooked. Optionally, the entire devicemay be turned upside down with the food remaining in the basket to turnthe food over when a lid is in place.

Preferably, the device is used on a covered grill having a lid and thebase of the device has a rectangular or circular shape which matches thedimensions of the most commonly sold outdoor barbecue grills. Morepreferred is a rectangular base measuring about 11 inches by about 16inches.

The mesh can be made of any material suitable for cooking or grillingpieces of food that is welded, soldered or woven. Preferably, the meshis stainless steel mesh or mild steel covered with a non-stick coatingsuch as XYLON™ (manufactured by Whitford Manufacturing). The size of thesquare openings throughout the mesh is between 14 gauge and 19 gauge, orwhich measure between about 0.2 inches across to about 0.8 inchesacross. The most preferred size of the square openings is about 0.5inches across.

The mesh can optionally be nickel-plated, porcelain-coated, or coatedwith a non-stick coating suitable for grilling or cooking.

As used herein, "small pieces of food" refers to those small pieces offood cooked on grills which normally fall through the longitudinal barsof a conventional grill grate. In particular, these small pieces of foodinclude sliced, chopped, unchopped, chunked, and whole vegetables,fruits, scallops, shrimp, and pieces of meat or fish.

Preferably, one or more divider walls can be placed inside the basketand attached to the base to create separate areas for placing differenttypes of small food pieces. For example, all the vegetables can beplaced on one side of a divider wall and all the chopped meat pieces canbe placed on the other side of the divider wall.

For convenience, only FIG. 1 contains the mesh pattern drawn on allsides. FIGS. 2-9 are in block style, showing only structural lines whereedges or corners are formed. However, the devices shown in FIGS. 2-9 arealso formed of the mesh material shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 1 shows a preferred embodiment of the present invention wherein oneof the four side walls 3A adjoining the cooking base 1 is raised higherthan the other three side walls 3B, 3C and 3D.

As shown in FIG. 2, it is preferred to attach a lid 4 having twotriangular overhang portions 6 by means of fasteners 5 to the raisedside 3A. The fasteners may be any suitable fasteners that withstand theheat of cooking or grilling including alligator clips or metal rings.Also, FIG. 2 shows wire semicircular handles 2 attached to two of thesides 3C and 3D that adjoin the raised side 3A. FIG. 2 also shows adivider wall 7 placed inside the basket for separating different kindsof small food pieces.

FIG. 3 illustrates the embodiment of FIG. 2 wherein the lid 4 is in theclosed position. Due to the raised edge 3A, the lid slopes downward whenclosed to meet the top edge of the lower front side 3B. This embodimentis advantageous because it fits inside most rectangular-shaped outdoorgrills wherein the lid of the grill slopes downward toward the front ofthe grill.

The embodiments shown in FIGS. 1-4 can be manufactured from a singleflat piece of mesh by making cuts in the piece of mesh according todesired dimensions and folding the sides of the cut pieces upward andjoining the corners with fasteners or by welding or other suitable meansfor joining pieces of mesh together. For example, starting from a singlepiece of mesh, the lid 4 can be cut out and the overhang portions 6 canbe folded downward. One or more divider walls 7 can be cut from thesingle starting piece of mesh and later attached into the interior ofthe basket. The basket is formed from the single piece of mesh byfolding the pre-cut sides 3A, 3B, 3C, and 3D upward so that the edges ofthe sides meet each other. Thereafter, the adjoining edges may befastened by suitable means for fastening pieces of mesh together such asclosing rings, clips, solder or welding.

FIGS. 5-8 relate to another preferred embodiment of the presentinvention, which also can be manufactured from a single flat piece ofmesh by making cuts in the piece of mesh according to desired dimensionsand folding the sides of the cut piece upward and joining the cornerswith fasteners or by welding or other suitable means for joining piecesof mesh together as discussed more fully below.

In the preferred embodiment of FIG. 5, there is an interior rectangularcooking base 1', two outwardly facing top edges 3' adjoining two sidewalls 5', two inwardly facing top edges 4' adjoining the other two sidewalls 5", and four square grasping handles 2' at each corner of the base1'. This embodiment is advantageous because the inwardly facing edges 4'help to retain the small pieces of food when the basket is moved whileon the grill and or turned over onto its side, or removed from thecooking surface and shaken to the turn the food pieces over. Theoutwardly facing edges 3' provide handles for easy grasping of thebasket during shaking, turning the device upside down with the lid on,and in removing the device from the grill.

FIG. 6 shows the lid for the device of FIG. 5. The lid is a flatrectangular piece of mesh adapted to be placed on top of the opening inthe device of FIG. 5. The lid can optionally be placed on top of thedevice and removed to permit stirring or moving of the contents withinthe basket. Also, the lid can be used for gathering contents in thebasket by turning the device upside down while the lid is on or used forcooking by turning the device upside down so that the lid becomes thecooking base or independently removing the lid and using it as a secondcooking base. The lid may be fastened at the top edge at one or more ofthe sides 5' so that it can be opened and closed.

FIG. 7 shows the 5' side wall and corner handles 2' cut away from therest of the device of FIG. 5. FIG. 7 illustrates how the outwardlyfacing edge 3' meets the two corner handles 2'.

FIG. 8 shows the 5" side wall and corner handles cut away from the restof the device of FIG. 5. FIG. 8 illustrates how the inwardly facing edge4' faces away from the corner handles 2' toward the inside of thebasket.

FIG. 9 shows the device of FIG. 5 prior to folding of a piece of themesh. The four dashed lines indicate the four places where the flatpiece of mesh is internally pre-cut. All internal solid lines indicatethe lines along which a fold must be made. First, the two 5' side wallswhich include the two outwardly facing 3' edges are folded up. Second,the other two 5" side walls which include the two inwardly facing 4'edges and the corner post portions 2' are folded up forming a basket.The inwardly facing 4' edges are folded to the inside of the basket. Theoutwardly facing 3' edges are folded to the outside of the basket.Lastly, the corner posts are formed by folding first at line A away fromthe basket, then at line B in a direction parallel to the adjoining sidewall 5", then at line C and finally at line D. In this way, the fourcorners of the corner post 2' are made.

FIG. 10 shows a side view of a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention. The device comprises a raised rear wall 3A" and a lower frontwall 3B". Side wall 3D" is sloped to meet the angle of the top 4". Thefour side walls are joined to each other and joined to the top 4" andthe bottom 1". A single cut, shown in the Figure as the dashed line 7",is made through the four side walls, separating the device into twohalves, i.e., a top and a bottom half. The top and bottom halves may beused together as one grilling device or the top can be removed andturned upside down for use as a separate grilling device.

It will be understood that various modifications in the invention asdescribed herein may be made without departing from the spirit of theinvention and from the scope of the claims which follow.

What is claimed is:
 1. A device for cooking or grilling small pieces offood comprising two halves of a basket which fit together to form afully enclosed basket, each half including a mesh made of a materialsuitable for cooking or grilling small pieces of food having openingsthroughout the mesh, said mesh comprising a bottom, a rear wall, a frontwall, and two side walls, wherein the two side walls are joined to thefront and rear walls and the rear wall is higher than the front wallsuch that the entire device fits completely within conventional coveredoutdoor barbecue grills and such that the higher rear wall facilitatesturning over the small pieces of food when the device is shaken.
 2. Thedevice as claimed in claim 1 wherein the top and bottom are rectangular.3. The device as claimed in claim 2 wherein the mesh is stainless steelmesh having square openings that measure between about 0.2 and about 0.8inches across.
 4. The device as claimed in claim 3 wherein the mesh iscovered with a non-stick coating suitable for cooking or grilling smallpieces of food.
 5. The device as claimed in claim 4 wherein the mesh iscoated with a material selected from the group consisting of nickel andporcelain.
 6. The device as claimed in claim 2 further comprising twosemi-circular wire handles attached to the side walls for grasping ofthe device.
 7. The device as claimed in claim 1 further comprising oneor more divider walls attached to the bottom of the basket whichseparate different kinds of small food pieces.
 8. A method of grillingsmall pieces of food on a grill having a lid with the device as claimedin claim 1 comprising placing the pieces of food in the basket, placingthe basket on a grill with a lid, closing the lid of the grill tocompletely enclose the device within, cooking the small pieces of foodfor a time sufficient to cook one side of the small pieces of food,opening the lid of the grill, shaking the basket of the device to turnthe pieces of food over after one side of the pieces of food has beencooked, and removing the device from the grill when the small pieces offood are cooked.
 9. The method as claimed in claim 8 wherein the top andbottom of the basket are rectangular.
 10. The method as claimed in claim8 wherein the mesh of the device is stainless steel mesh having squareopenings that measure between about 0.2 and about 0.8 inches across. 11.The method as claimed in claim 8 wherein the mesh is covered with anon-stick coating suitable for cooking or grilling small pieces of food.12. The method as claimed in claim 8 wherein the mesh is coated with amaterial selected from the group consisting of nickel and porcelain. 13.The method as claimed in claim 8 wherein the device further comprisestwo semi-circular wire handles attached to the side walls for graspingof the device.
 14. The method as claimed in claim 8 wherein the devicefurther comprises one or more divider walls attached to the bottom ofthe basket which separate different kinds of small food items.
 15. Themethod as claimed in claim 8 wherein the top half is used independentlyas a second grilling or cooking surface.